Temperature measurement and control of wafer support in thermal processing chamber

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides apparatus and methods for achieving uniform heating to a substrate during a rapid thermal process. More particularly, the present invention provides apparatus and methods for controlling the temperature of an edge ring supporting a substrate during a rapid thermal process to improve temperature uniformity across the substrate.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

Field of the Invention

This application is a divisional application of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/623,238, filed Jan. 15, 2007, which is hereinincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of semiconductorprocessing. More particularly, the present invention relates to methodsand apparatus for thermally processing a semiconductor substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art

Rapid thermal processing (RTP) is a process for annealing substratesduring semiconductor processing. During RTP, thermal radiation isgenerally used to rapidly heat a substrate in a controlled environmentto a maximum temperature of up to about 1350° C. This maximumtemperature is maintained for a specific amount of time ranging fromless than one second to several minutes depending on the process. Thesubstrate is then cooled to room temperature for further processing.High intensity tungsten halogen lamps are commonly used as the source ofheat radiation. The substrate may be provided additional heat by aheated susceptor conductively coupled to the substrate.

The semiconductor fabrication process has several applications of RTP.Such applications include thermal oxidation, high temperature soakanneal, low temperature soak anneal, and spike anneal. In thermaloxidation, a substrate is heated in oxygen, ozone, or a combination ofoxygen and hydrogen which causes silicon substrate to oxidize to formsilicon oxide. In high temperature soak anneal, a substrate is exposedto different gas mixtures such as nitrogen, ammonia, or oxygen. Lowtemperature soak anneal is generally used to anneal substrate depositedwith metal. Spike anneal is used when the substrate needs to be exposedto high temperature for a very short time. During a spike anneal, thesubstrate is rapidly heated to a maximum temperature sufficient toactivate dopant and cooled rapidly to end the activation process priorto substantial diffusion of the dopant.

RTP usually requires a substantially uniform temperature profile acrossthe substrate. In the state of the art process, the temperatureuniformity may be improved by controlling heat sources, such as a laser,an array of lamps, configured to heat the substrate on the front sidewhile a reflective surface on the back side reflects heat back to thesubstrate. Emissivity measurement and compensation methodology have beenused to improve the temperature gradient across the substrate.

As the semiconductor industry develops, the requirement for temperatureuniformity during a RTP also increases. In some processes, it isimportant to have substantially small temperature gradient from about 2mm inside the edge of the substrate. Particularly, it may be necessaryto heat a substrate at a temperature between about 200° C. to about1350° C. with a temperature deviation of about 1° C. to 1.5° C. Thestate of the art RTP systems have difficulties to reach this kind ofuniformity, especially near the edge of the substrate. In a RTP system,an edge ring is usually used to support a substrate near the periphery.The edge ring and the substrate overlap producing a complicated heatingsituation near the edge of the substrate. In one aspect, the substratemay have different thermal properties near the edge. This is mostlypronounced for a patterned substrate, or for a silicon-on isulator—(SOI)substrate. In another aspect, the substrate and the edge ring overlapnear the edge, it is difficult to achieve uniform temperature profilenear the edge by measuring and adjusting the temperature of thesubstrate alone. Depending on the edge ring's thermal propertiesrelative to the substrate's thermal and optical properties, thetemperature profile of a substrate is generally either edge high or edgelow.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates two types of common temperatureprofiles of a substrate processed in a RTP chamber. The vertical axisdenotes measured temperatures on a substrate. The horizontal axisdenotes the distance from the edge of the substrate. Profile 1 is anedge high profile where the edge of the substrate has the highesttemperature measurement. Profile 1 is an edge low profile where the edgeof the substrate has the lowest temperature measurement. It is difficultto remove temperature deviation near the edge of the substrate in thestate of the art RTP systems.

Therefore, there is a need for apparatus and methods used in RTP forimproved temperature uniformity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally provides apparatus and methods forachieving uniform heating to a substrate during a rapid thermal process.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a chamber forprocessing a substrate comprising a chamber enclosure defining aprocessing volume, a substrate support disposed in the processingvolume, an edge ring disposed on the substrate support, the edge ring isconfigured to support the substrate on a periphery of the substrate, afirst heat source configured to heat the substrate, and a second heatsource configured to heat the edge ring, wherein the second heat sourceis independently controllable from the first heat source.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a rapid thermalprocessing chamber comprising a chamber body defining a chamber volume,a temperature controlled edge ring disposed in the chamber volume,wherein the temperature controlled edge ring is configured to thermallycoupled with a substrate being processed near a periphery of thesubstrate, a first heat source configured for primarily heating asurface of the substrate, and a second heat source configured forprimarily heating the temperature controlled edge ring.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method foruniformly heating a substrate to a target temperature comprisingpositioning the substrate in a processing chamber connected with a firstheat source, thermally coupling a periphery of the substrate to an edgering, heating a surface of the substrate with the first heat source, andmaintaining the edge ring at a ring temperature differs from the targettemperature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentinvention can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates two types of common temperatureprofiles of a substrate processed in a RTP chamber.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a sectional view of a rapid thermalprocessing system in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a sectional view of a rapid thermalprocessing system in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a sectional view of an edge ring inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides apparatus and methods for achievinguniform heating to a substrate during a rapid thermal process. Moreparticularly, the present invention provides apparatus and methods forcontrolling the temperature of an edge ring supporting a substrateduring a rapid thermal process to improve temperature uniformity acrossthe substrate.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a sectional view of a rapid thermalprocessing system 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. The rapid thermal processing system 10 comprises a chamberbody 35 defining a processing volume 14 configured for annealing adisk-shaped substrate 12 therein. The chamber body 35 may be made ofstainless steel and may be lined with quartz. The processing volume 14is configured to be radiantly heated by a heating assembly 16 disposedon a quartz window 18 of the rapid thermal processing system 10. In oneembodiment, the quartz window 18 may be water cooled.

A slit valve 30 may be formed on a side of the chamber body 35 providinga passage for the substrate 12 to the processing volume 14. A gas inlet44 may be connected to a gas source 45 to provide processing gases,purge gases and/or cleaning gases to the processing volume 14. A vacuumpump 55 may be fluidly connected to the processing volume 14 through anoutlet 54 for pumping out the processing volume 14.

A circular channel 22 is formed near the bottom of the chamber body 35.A magnetic rotor 21 is disposed in the circular channel 22. A tubularriser 39 rests on or otherwise coupled to the magnetic rotor 21. Thesubstrate 12 is supported by a peripheral edge by an edge ring 20disposed on the tubular riser 39. A magnetic stator 23 is locatedexternally of the magnetic rotor 21 and is magnetically coupled throughthe chamber body 35 to induce rotation of the magnetic rotor 21 andhence of the edge ring 20 and the substrate 12 supported thereon. Themagnetic stator 23 may be also configured to adjust the elevations ofthe magnetic rotor 21, thus lifting the substrate 12 being processed.Additional magnetic rotation and levitation information is available inthe U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,833, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The chamber body 35 may include a reflector plate 27 near the back sideof the substrate 12. The reflector plate 27 has an optical reflectivesurface 28 facing the back side of the substrate 12 to enhance theemissivity of the substrate 12. In one embodiment, the reflector plate27 may be water cooled. The reflective surface 28 and the back side ofthe substrate 12 define a reflective cavity 15. In one embodiment, thereflector plate 27 has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter ofthe substrate 12 being processed. For example, if the rapid thermalprocessing system 10 is configured to process 12 inch substrates, thediameter of the reflector plate 27 may be about 13 inches.

A purge gas may be provided to the reflector plate 27 through a purgegas inlet 48 connected to a purge gas source 46. The purge gas ejectedto the reflector plate 27 helps cooling of the reflector plate 27especially near the apertures 25 where heat is not reflected back to thesubstrate 12.

In one embodiment, an outer ring 19 may be coupled between the chamberbody 35 and the edge ring 20 to separate the reflective cavity 15 fromthe processing volume 14. The reflective cavity 15 and the processingvolume 14 may have different environments.

The heating assembly 16 may comprise an array of heating elements 37.The array of heating elements 37 may be UV lamps, halogen lamps, laserdiodes, resistive heaters, microwave powered heaters, light emittingdiodes (LEDs), or any other suitable heating elements both singly or incombination. The array of heating elements 37 may be disposed invertical holes formed in a reflector body 53. In one embodiment, theheating elements 37 may be arranged in a hexagon pattern. A coolingchannel 40 may be formed in the reflector body 53. A coolant, such aswater, may enter the reflector body 53 from an inlet 41, travel adjacentthe vertical holes cooling the array of heating elements 37, and exitthe reflector body from an exit 42.

The array of heating elements 37 are connected to a controller 52 whichare capable of adjusting heating effects of the array of heatingelements 37. In one embodiment, the array of heating elements 37 may bedivided into a plurality of heating groups to heat the substrate 12 bymultiple concentric zones. Each heating group may be controlledindependently to provide desired temperature profile across a radius ofthe substrate 12. Detailed descriptions of the heating assembly 16 maybe found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,964 and No. 6,927,169, which are herebyincorporated by reference.

In one embodiment, an edge ring heating assembly 38 configured primarilyto heat the edge ring 20 may be disposed outside the array of heatingelements 37. The edge ring heating assembly 38 is connected to thecontroller 52 which may adjust the heating power of the edge ringheating assembly 38. The edge ring heating assembly 38 is independentlycontrollable from the array of heating elements 37, hence controllingthe temperature of the edge ring 20 independently from the temperatureof the substrate 12. In one embodiment, the edge ring heating assembly38 may be one of the heating groups of the array of heating elements 37.

The rapid thermal processing system 10 further comprise a plurality ofthermal probes 24 configured to measure thermal properties of thesubstrate 12 at different radial locations. In one embodiment, theplurality of thermal probes 24 may be a plurality of pyrometersoptically coupled to and disposed in a plurality of apertures 25 formedin the reflector plate 27 to detect a temperature or other thermalproperties of a different radial portion of the substrate 12. Detaileddescription of similar temperature probes may be found in the U.S. Pat.No. 5,755,511, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The pluralityof temperature probes 24 is connected with the controller 52 which mayconduct a closed loop control to adjust the power supplies to the arrayof heating elements 37 to provide a tailored radial thermal profileacross the substrate 12.

The rapid thermal processing system 10 further comprises an edge ringthermal probe 31 coupled to and disposed in an aperture 32 on thereflector plate 27 near the edge ring 20. The edge ring thermal probe 31may be a pyrometer configured to measure a temperature or other thermalproperties of the edge ring 20. The edge ring thermal probe 31 isconnected with the controller 52 which is connected to the edge ringheating assembly 38. The controller 52 may conduct a closed loop controlto the edge ring heating assembly 38 using the measurement from the edgering thermal probe 31. In one embodiment, the edge ring 20 may be heatedto a desired temperature independently from the substrate 12 during athermal process.

A gas jet 47 may be disposed near the edge ring 20 for cooling the edgering 20. In one embodiment, the gas jet 47 may share the same purge gassource 46 with the purge gas inlet 48. The gas jet 47 may be directed tothe edge ring 20 and ejecting a cooling gas, such as helium, to cool theedge ring 20. The gas jet 47 may be connected to the gas source 46through a valve 49 which may be controlled by the controller 52. Thecontroller 52, therefore, may include the cooling effect of the gas jet47 in the closed looped temperature control of the edge ring 20.

The edge ring 20 may be designed to have thermal properties, such asthermal mass, emissivity and absorptivity, according to the thermalproperties of the substrate 12 being processed to improve substratetemperature profile. The thermal properties of the edge ring 20 may bealtered by choosing different materials, different thicknesses anddifferent coatings. A detailed description of edge ring design may befound in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,367 (Attorney Docket No. 008504), whichis hereby incorporated by reference. In one embodiment, the edge ring 20may be made from silicon with a nickel coating.

During a rapid thermal process, the substrate 12 may be transferred tothe processing volume 14 through the slit valve 30 and supported by theedge ring 20. The magnetic rotor 21 may rotate the substrate 12 andposition the substrate 12 in a desired elevation. During most processes,the objective is to rapidly heat the substrate 12 uniformly to a targettemperature. In one embodiment of the present invention, heat transferto the substrate 12 mainly comes from radiation of the array of heatingelements 37 and conduction and/or radiation from the edge ring 20 whichis heated in a desired temperature. A uniform temperature profile acrossthe substrate 12 may be achieved by controlling the array of heatingelements 37 and by keeping the edge ring 20 at the desired temperaturewhich is usually different than the target temperature for the substrate12.

Controlling the array of heating element 37 may be conducted bymeasuring the temperature of the substrate 12 across a radius using theplurality of thermal probes 24. In one embodiment, the plurality ofthermal probes 24 may be evenly distributed across the reflector plate27 corresponding to a radius of the substrate 12. The measuredtemperatures from the plurality of thermal probes 24 are sampled by thecontroller 52. The controller 52 may used the measured temperatures toadjust the array of heating elements 37 so that the temperature across aradius of the substrate 12 becoming uniform. In one embodiment, thecontroller 52 may adjust the array of heating elements 37 by a pluralityof concentric zones. Detailed descriptions of controlling heatingelements by multiple zones may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,511 andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/195,395, published as U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2006/0066193 (Attorney Docket No. 009150),which are hereby incorporated by reference.

In one embodiment, heat exchange between the edge ring 20 and aperiphery of the substrate 12 is used to adjust the temperature profilenear the edge of the substrate 12. Heat exchange may be achieved byconduction and/or radiation between the substrate 12 and the edge ring20. In one embodiment, heat exchange may be conducted by heating theedge ring 20 to a temperature different from the target temperature ofthe substrate 12.

In one embodiment, a desired temperature may be predetermined for theedge ring 20 according to process requirements and thermal properties ofboth the edge ring 20 and the substrate 12. In one embodiment, thepredetermined desired temperature of the edge ring 20 may be about 10°C. to about 15° C. different from the target temperature of thesubstrate 12. In one embodiment, the predetermined desired temperatureof the edge ring 20 may be higher than the target temperature of thesubstrate 12. In another embodiment, the predetermined desiredtemperature of the edge ring 20 may be lower than the target temperatureof the substrate 12. The desired edge ring temperature may be determinedfrom either heat transfer modeling (conductive, radiative, convective)or from experimental results. In either case, the optical properties ofthe substrate and/or the edge ring are varied and the temperatureuniformity of the wafer is measured. the results of these experimentslead to prediction of the desired temperature profile for the edge ringto achieve the best uniformity on the substrate.

In another embodiment, the desired temperature for the edge ring 20 maybe dynamic and adjustable according to the in-situ thermal measurementsof the substrate 12 and the edge ring 20.

Heating the edge ring 20 may be achieved primarily by using the edgering heating assembly 38. A closed loop control may be achieved by thecontroller 52 by adjusting the temperature of the edge ring 20 from themeasurement of the edge ring thermal probe 31. Adjustment of thetemperature of the edge ring 20 may be achieved by adjusting the powersupply of the edge ring heating assembly 38 and/or flow rate of thecooling gas from the gas jet 47. In one embodiment, the edge ring 20 maybe over heated and then cooled down to a desired temperature withcooling gas from the gas jet 47.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the cooling gas for the gasjet 47 may be used to cool the edge ring 20 to between about 100° C. andabout 200° C. after processing one substrate and prior to the entry ofthe next substrate.

The method of the present invention can provide less than 2° C., 3 sigmatemperature uniformity for spike annealing. The method of the presentinvention provide less than 1° C., 3 sigma temperature uniformity forhigh temperature soak annealing up to 1350° C. In one embodiment, themethod of the present invention can heat a substrate at a temperaturebetween about 200° C. to about 1350° C. with a temperature deviation ofabout 1° C. to about 1.5° C.

The edge ring heating element 38 of the rapid thermal processing system10 is illustrated as a plurality of heating lamps. Other suitableheating device, such as for example solid state heaters (i.e., LEDs),laser heaters, inductive heaters, and microwave heaters, electricalheaters (e.g., resistive heating) can be used in the rapid thermalprocessing systems of the present invention.

Additionally, the edge ring heating element may be positioned in othersuitable locations, such as underneath the edge ring, on a side of theedge ring. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a sectional view of a rapidthermal processing system 100 having an edge ring heating element 51positioned below the edge ring 20.

In another embodiment, a substrate may be heated from a backside duringthermal processing. An exemplary backside heating chamber may comprisean edge ring for supporting the substrate by a periphery with afrontside (the production side) facing up. An array of heating elements,similar to the heating elements 37, may be positioned underneath theedge ring so that the substrate can be heated from the backside. Aplurality of probes may be positioned across the radius of the substrateabove the edge ring to measure a temperature profile of the substrateduring thermal processing. An edge ring heater dedicated toindependently heat the edge ring may be positioned near the edge ring,underneath the edge ring, above the edge ring, or on a side of the edgering. An edge ring probe may be positioned adjacent the edge ringconfigured to measure the temperature of the edge ring. A controller maybe connected to the edge ring heater, the edge ring probe, the array ofheating elements and the plurality of probes to control the temperatureprofile of the substrate and the temperature of the edge ring in-situ.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a sectional view of an edge ring 110 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The edge ring110 has a slant lip 111 configured to support the substrate 12. The edgering 110 is designed to reduce the contact area with the substrate 12.By reducing the contact area between the substrate 12 and the edge ring110, the heating condition near the edge of the substrate 12 may besimplified and edge high/low effect may be reduced. Additionally,reducing contact area also reduces particle contamination in theprocessing chamber.

Although the above discussion is focused on achieving uniformtemperature profile across a substrate, a non-uniform temperatureprofile could also be achieved using the apparatus and methods of thepresent invention.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

1. A rapid thermal processing chamber, comprising: a chamber bodydefining a chamber volume; an edge ring to thermally couple to asubstrate to be processed in the chamber, wherein the edge ring isdisposed in the chamber volume; a first heat source to heat a surface ofthe substrate; and a second heat source to heat the edge ring.
 2. Therapid thermal processing chamber of claim 1, further comprising athermal probe to measure at least one thermal property of the edge ring.3. The rapid thermal processing chamber of claim 2, further comprising acooling device to reduce the temperature of the edge ring.
 4. The rapidthermal processing chamber of claim 1, wherein the first and second heatsources together comprise a lamp assembly to radiantly heat the chambervolume, and the lamp assembly has independently temperature controllablezones.
 5. The rapid thermal processing chamber of claim 1, wherein thefirst heat source and second heat source are disposed on opposite sidesof the edge ring.
 6. The rapid thermal processing chamber of claim 1,wherein the second heat source is one of a radiant heater, a conductiveheat source, a resistive heater, an inductive heater, and a microwaveheater.
 7. A method for uniformly heating a substrate to a targettemperature, comprising: positioning the substrate in a processingchamber, wherein the processing chamber is connected with a first heatsource; thermally coupling a periphery of the substrate to an edge ring;heating a surface of the substrate with the first heat source; andmaintaining the edge ring at a first temperature, wherein the firsttemperature differs from the target temperature.
 8. The method of claim7, further wherein maintaining the edge ring at the first temperaturecomprising heating the edge ring with a second heat source, wherein thefirst and second heat sources are independently controllable.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the first and second heat sources togethercomprise a lamp assembly having independently controllable zones. 10.The method of claim 8, further comprising cooling the edge ring using apurge gas.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: measuring atemperature of the edge ring using a thermal probe to determine ameasured temperature; and adjusting the second heat source according tothe measured temperature.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the firsttemperature differs from the target temperature for about 10° C. toabout 15° C.
 13. The method of claim 7, wherein the first temperature ishigher than the target temperature.
 14. The method of claim 7, whereinthe first temperature is lower than the target temperature.
 15. A rapidthermal processing chamber, comprising: a chamber body defining aprocessing volume; a substrate support mechanism disposed in theprocessing volume; an edge ring disposed on the substrate supportmechanism, wherein the edge ring supports a substrate being processed bya peripheral edge of the substrate, and heat exchange between the edgering and the peripheral edge of the substrate adjusts a temperatureprofile of the substrate near the peripheral edge; a first heat sourceto rapidly heat the substrate disposed on the edge ring; and a secondheat source to heat the edge ring at a temperature different from atemperature of the substrate.
 16. The rapid thermal processing chamberof claim 15, wherein the first heat source comprises an array of heatingelements.
 17. The rapid thermal processing chamber of claim 16, whereinthe first heat source and the second heat source are disposed onopposite sides of the substrate.
 18. The rapid thermal processingchamber of claim 17, wherein the second heat source comprises one ormore laser heaters.
 19. The rapid thermal processing chamber of claim16, wherein the array of heating elements are lamps disposed outside thechamber body and configured to provide thermal energy through a quartzwindow of the chamber body, and the second heat source comprises aplurality of lamps disposed radially outwards of the first heat source.20. The rapid thermal processing chamber of claim 15, furthercomprising: a cooling device to reduce to temperature of the edge ring.